


Nightmares (Crash AU)

by Skylerius



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Crash AU, Gen, Lance needs cuddles, Minor Character Death, Nightmares, Pidge is a deep sleeper, Platonic Cuddling, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), Space fam - Freeform, platonic paladins - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 16:21:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12915609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylerius/pseuds/Skylerius
Summary: A collection of stories regarding the not-yet-paladins reliving their experiences as Galran prisoners in an AU in which the Galra take over Earth 1 year before the Kerberos mission can ever happen. These five brave humans escaped imprisonment and are determined to free their planet, but they are plagued by memories of what they went through. Fortunately, they have each other to lean on. (Also posted on Amino; this AU is my baby and I love it otl.)





	1. Lance

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my friends on Amino for helping to develop the characters for this AU via headcanons and RPing! You're all awesome!

Dreams were supposed to be filled with color, music, sunlight... They were supposed to be beautiful things that he would wistfully think upon come morning, laying in bed until the vividness of what he experienced faded away. They weren't supposed to be dark, silent, and lonely, but his was. It felt like an eternity was passing in his own head, darkness pressing in on all sides. Sensory deprivation at its worst... no light, no sound, nobody else to touch and hold on to. Just a small, empty room about the size of a closet, big enough for him to stand up or sit down, but he couldn't even lie flat. His back hurt, cramping from being curled up in the corner for too long, and goosebumps stubbornly clung to his skin as he shivered in the chill.   
  
Part of him wanted to cry and beg for the door to open, but the other part hoped it never did, because he knew what would happen once he was dragged from the damp corner he sat in. He didn't want that. He refused.   
  
He started shivering again, the cold biting deeper into his body, numbing more than just his fingers and toes. His mind, his heart, his lungs. Everything was just cold... heavy... He just wanted to go back to sleep.  
  
There was a grinding noise, suddenly, jarring him out of his thoughts. It sounded deafeningly loud to his sound-deprived ears, making him cringe, and then the door slid open, light pouring in and burning his eyes. He yelped, squinting as tears ran down his face, unable to see anything at all in the great blur of light as someone reached out to roughly grab his arm and drag him out of his dark little chamber.  
  
How long had he been in there? Days? Weeks? It was hard to tell anymore, but he was exhausted, hungry, thirsty, and oh so very cold.  
  
By the time his eyes adjusted well enough to the light for him to see through the film of tears, he was being dragged out to the firing line. Several other cadets, their eyes bloodshot and vacant, stood in a line, weapons in their hands. Their clothes were dirty, their hair damp and overgrown as it hung in their faces, skin pale and clinging to their ribs as if they hadn't been fed in a month. He was put on the end of the line, and a gun pressed into his hands.   
  
No. Not again.  
  
He trembled as he stood there, hearing another grinding noise as another door opened. A line of prisoners were brought out in restraints, their hands bound behind them, all connected by a single long chain. They walked in single file, until they all stood in front of the cadets, and then they were turned to face the firing squad.  
  
His mind had long since erased the faces of the people he had actually seen get shot to death in the lineup, the memories too traumatic to remember... but that didn't stop it from messing with him. Because while several of the people standing there had blurred faces he wouldn't remember when he woke up, four of them were painfully familiar. They were his best friends, his second family.   
  
"These are some of the worst criminals on your Earth. Shoot them, and you will be released from training and become true soldiers."   
  
"No... I won't... I can't..." He stammered, fresh tears running down his gaunt face as he stood there, toe to the line, gun in his hands.   
  
All of the other cadets raised their weapons, taking aim. His own arms moved on their own accord, mimicking the movement without his permission. He couldn't control himself anymore. He was gone, empty, just like the others. They had finally broken him, and now he was nothing but a toy soldier.  
  
"No... no, please no..."  
  
But it was too late. The other cadets in the lineup all fired their weapons, shooting their targets square in the chest. Shiro, Keith, and Pidge all dropped to their knees, blood staining their clothes and spilling from their mouths as they screamed. Shiro cried out to the other two in a garbled, pained voice, while Pidge slumped against Keith as they slid to the ground, holding onto one another. They were dying, their blood leaving red rivers against the concrete.  
  
His own finger was on the trigger. Standing before him was Hunk, one of his best friends from his days when they were students of the Garrison. His roommate, his partner in crime. The guy who helped him when he felt homesick, and who failed the flight simulator with him time and time again, but never lost his cheerful spirit.  
  
Hunk's big brown eyes were filled with pain, sadness, and fear, but he simply closed his eyes and braced himself for the end.  
  
"You'll always be my friend, Lance."  
  
Lance jolted awake with a gasp, pushing himself upright in his bed and staring around with wide blue eyes, his sweat-damp, curly hair clinging to his cheeks. For a moment, he froze when he found himself in a dark room, but his eyes then adjusted to what faint light there was... moonlight through the window, the stars glittering in the clear sky outside, the glow from his and Hunk's digital clocks on their nightstands, the bit of yellow light leaking across the hall from the bathroom light that they always left on at night.  
  
It wasn't pitch black, and it wasn't silent, either. Hunk was sleeping in the bed right across the room from Lance's own, the sound of his snoring filling the room... snorting as he drew in a breath, sighing as he let it out. His friend was alive and well... very well, judging by how much he was drooling in his sleep. Probably dreaming about something he wanted to make for breakfast in the morning.  
  
Letting out a shuddering breath of his own, Lance lifted one hand to his face, and was startled to feel tears on his face. Some of them had already dried, while others were still damp, clinging to his eyelashes and resting on his cheekbones before slowly sliding down his chin. He quickly rubbed them away with the sleeve of his pajamas, sniffling a little as he steadied himself, but his heart was still pounding so hard it made him feel sick.  
  
After a few moments, he looked over at his clock, and saw the time; 2:02 a.m. Still very early, but he couldn't get back to sleep after that. At least, not in his room.  
  
He carefully got to his feet, stepping into his slippers before shuffling out into the hallway, as quietly as possible as to not disturb Hunk. He first went down the hall to the bathroom, so he could wash his face at the sink and stand in the bright light for a moment, then tiptoed to the room right across from said bathroom. He peered in through the cracked door, seeing two dark-haired forms sound asleep in their beds. Shiro and Keith were both perfectly alright, sleeping soundly. A quick glance down the stairs reassured him that Coran was also asleep, draped across the couch with a throw blanket covering everything but his head and feet.  
  
Lance's heart fell slightly, and he lingered there at the top of the stairs, clutching at the railing with one hand and his pajama shirt with the other. Loneliness made his heart ache, and he suddenly desperately wanted a hug, but didn't want to wake anyone.  
  
Well, there was _one_ person who was likely still awake at two in the morning...  
  
Deciding to risk it, Lance turned around and crept back down the hall, to the door right across from his and Hunk's. He nudged the door open just a crack, and was greeted with the warm glow of the nightlight casting star patterns on the wall, along with the steady flashing of Rover's lights as he sat on his charging station. Already, he felt more comfortable in Pidge's well-illuminated room than his own.  
  
But Pidge wasn't alone in her room, not since the gang's three alien friends were staying over. A futon lay on the floor beside the bed, Shay sprawled out with a pillow hugged in her arms as she peacefully dozed. Balmera, her cat, was curled up in the bend of her knees, softly purring. The bed itself had two people in it, one the beautiful Altean, Allura, who was sound asleep with her long arms draped around the much smaller form of Pidge, like she was a teddy bear. Neither of the alien girls responded to Lance's soft footsteps entering the room, but Pidge's fluffy blonde head rose up from her pillow, and she turned to gaze at Lance, amber eyes shining in the darkness.  
  
"Lance?" Pidge whispered, not daring to move much more, not with Allura's arms wrapped around her. "What are you doing in here?"  
  
"Well, I..." Lance tried to begin explaining, but his throat felt tight, his words being choked off. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat, hands fiddling with his pajama shirt, and in the end just hung his head as he failed to think of a good, manly explanation for wandering into her room at two a.m.  
  
His failure to answer was apparently enough of one, since Pidge gave a sigh and did her best to extract herself from Allura's arms without waking her. Her socked feet touched the floor, and then she got up and tiptoed across the room so she could slip her arms around Lance and lean her head against his chest. She hugged him, gently, and he gratefully wrapped his arms around her in return, giving her a tighter squeeze as if to reassure himself that this was real, and the dream was not... or, at least, the dream was only half-real, and in the past.  
  
Their little moment was interrupted when Allura's drowsy voice whispered, "Is everything alright?"  
  
Looking up, the two saw that she had indeed woken up when Pidge had gotten out of bed. The Altean rubbed at her own blue eyes with one hand, still looking half asleep.  
  
"Yeah, just... a rough night," Pidge explained vaguely, her arms still hooked around Lance's middle.  
  
Allura blinked, first confused, and then understanding filled her gaze. She shifted back on the bed a bit, making more room beside her as she patted the mattress. "Why don't you two come lie down? You need your rest."   
  
Lance straightened up in surprise, then looked down at Pidge, asking softly, "Is that okay?"  
  
Pidge simply nodded, then released him from her grip and nudged him towards the bed. He gratefully climbed up onto it, sliding into the center to give Pidge room to climb in beside him, the Cuban boy sandwiched in between her and Allura. The three shifted around a bit to get comfortable together, drawing the blankets up over their chests. Allura lay on her side, her back against the wall and one hand resting on Lance's arm as he lay on his back, the two of them sharing the pillows. Pidge was curled up at his other side, except her cheek was laying on his chest rather than a pillow, one arm draped over his middle while his was hooked around her, holding her close to his side.   
  
"It's alright..." Pidge murmured, one hand gently rubbing circles on Lance's stomach. She looked up at him for a moment, then let her eyes drift closed as she snuggled closer. He could feel her little feet pressing against his leg, her head nestled on his chest, right above his now-calmer heart.   
  
Allura nodded as she smiled and closed her eyes as well, gently stroking Lance's arm. "Yes... everything is alright now, Lance. We're here."  
  
Lance let a breath out through his nose, smiling a bit as well. He laid his head back against the pillow, relaxing. He moved his free hand to press it over Pidge's, keeping her palm pressed over his stomach. "I know..."  
  
He laid there for a while, listening to the girls' breathing slow down as they fell asleep beside him, and he watched the stars on the wall move. Eventually, sleep tugged at his heavy eyelids, and he let them drift closed. Come sunrise, Shay would awaken to find him sound asleep in the center of the bed, both Allura and Pidge cuddled up to him like her little Balmera snuggled with her.  
  
She couldn't help but go downstairs and tell everyone else how cute it was over her cup of morning coffee, much to Shiro and Coran's dismay at the idea of their little girls cuddling the ladies' man in bed. Well, at least Keith and Hunk giggled... and promised to tease Lance relentlessly about it once they all woke up. Oh dear.


	2. Shiro

The crowds jeered at him from the stands, their voices rising in a single deafening roar that filled the entire stadium. He winced under the harsh lights, feeling the eyes of video cameras on him as they recorded the match to air it on live television, like some sort of sport... Some sort of sick, horrible sport.  
  
He adjusted his stance, bracing his feet wider apart as he tightened his grip on the weapon in his hand. A small, simple blade, the handle made of rough leather so it wouldn't slip from his palm even as a nervous sweat coated his skin. His chest felt tight in his chest, his breaths short and shallow, heart pounding. The anticipation rapidly built up until he finally heard that rumbling, the sandy floor shuddering underfoot.   
  
A gate up ahead opened, metal bars rising up into the thick concrete barrier that separated the stadium seating from the battle arena. And from the shadows beyond the gate came a creature he couldn't even begin to describe... he couldn't tell if it had once been a Galra, or an earth creature, mutilated by Druid experiments and unleashed in the arena to fight gladiators like him for the entertainment of all who watched. Perhaps the most sickening thing about it all was that Galra weren't the only ones in the stands... so few actual, living Galra had been stationed on earth, but their influence gripped the adaptable, spiteful nature of humans well. Dozens of humans were in the stands, many of them holding a beer in their hand as they excitedly shouted about the fight. They wanted to see blood and carnage, and he was going to have to give it to them.  
  
He drew in a breath, trying to ignore the clammy, hot/cold feeling on his skin as he focused his attention on the beast slinking into the arena. His focus was shattered, however, when he saw movement from the corner of his eye; he wasn't the only human on the field.  
  
"Keith...!" Fear and pain rose in his chest when he saw the teenager standing to the right of him, a blade in his own hand as he stared down the beast. Fighting as a team was something they often did, and came with its advantages, but it filled him with terror every time. So many teams that entered the arena were broken, having to watch as their friends and loved ones were hurt or even killed.   
  
"Don't worry, Shiro," a smaller voice spoke to his left, and he whipped around to stare at the tiny girl beside him. Pidge just smiled, the expression wavering, one eye squinting slightly like it always did when she faked a smile. "We'll watch each other's backs. Like we always have."  
  
"No... no... this is wrong," he stammered, dropping his battle stance to spin around, seeing that the others were there, too. Lance stood just behind Keith, silent tears running down his face as he kept close to his friend, trying so hard to be ready but trembling with fear. Hunk was just behind Shiro and Pidge, looking like he was in shock. They all looked pale, skinny, dirty... half-healed cuts and bruises marred their bodies. One of Keith's arms hung limply at his side, pain written all over his face.  
  
"Focus, Shiro," Keith called, his good hand lifting his weapon, "It's time to start."  
  
All of the sudden, there were multiple monsters, not just one. They circled around the group of humans like sharks ready to pick them off one by one.   
  
"No... no...!" He only had the chance to call out in a panic before the beasts lunged, claws and teeth bared. He caught glimpses of the blood, the metallic smell of it threatening to choke him as he recoiled, and then he just saw the maw of one of the beasts right in his face before pain exploded throughout his head--  
  
And woke up with a silent gasp for air, mouth open but no sound coming out.   
  
Shiro stared blankly up at the ceiling of his bedroom, laying flat on his back with his pillows and blankets scattered around him, a sheen of sweat covering his entire body. He could feel his white bangs clinging damply to his forehead, and taste the faint presence of sand and sagebrush in his mouth as he drew in ragged breaths. Insects sang outside, and someone was breathing, deep and even, to his left.  
  
Rolling over onto his side, Shiro pushed himself upright with one hand, propping himself up on his arm. He squinted through the darkness of the room to see Keith's bed set against the opposite wall, the boy curled up on his side, his back towards Shiro. His blankets had been kicked down by his feet, his overgrown black hair a wild mess around his head and his shirt riding up to show his lower back. He was sound asleep, his breaths coming at an even tempo... in, and out... in, and out...   
  
For a moment, Shiro just watched him sleep. Keith had been the only one of his crew to actually fight in the gladiator ring with him... he had been the first of the bunch he escaped with, the first one he promised to protect.   
  
A few seconds of silence ticked by, and Shiro pushed himself to his feet, quietly shuffling across the room. He reached down to carefully tug Keith's shirt back down over his middle, then grasped one of the blankets to draw it up over him, up to his shoulder; the desert was hot in the middle of the day, but in the night and early morning, it was chilly.   
  
Keith stirred a little, mumbling a question that Shiro couldn't understand since he was still half asleep. A smile came to the older man's face, and he gently ruffled Keith's hair with his flesh-and-blood hand, soothing the boy back into sleep. "It's alright, Keith..."   
  
A soft breath escaped the boy, and then he was gone again, slipping back into a deep sleep. Shiro, however, was wide awake, the cobwebs of his dream still clinging to the corners of his mind. So, he tiptoed from the room, emerging into the hallway.  
  
The wooden floor was cold under his bare feet as he stepped into the hallway, turning right to go to the door right next to his and Keith's. It hung slightly ajar, allowing him to gently nudge it open with one hand and peer in. Hunk and Lance were both sound asleep in their beds, a faint snore coming from deep within Hunk's chest, while Lance still had his headphones on, music likely still playing.   
  
Shiro crept into the room, first going to Hunk, gently nudging the sturdy teen away from the edge of his bed so he wouldn't roll right out of it, then adjusting the blankets over him. Then he crossed the room to Lance, ever so carefully extracting the headphones from his head and fishing his music player out from the blankets to turn it off, setting them on the night stand for safekeeping. He glanced at the digital clock also sitting there, frowning at the glowing blue numbers: 3:14 am. He couldn't tell if it was worth trying to go back to bed or not at this hour.  
  
Pushing that thought aside, Shiro turned to quietly leave the boys' room, leaving the door cracked behind him. There was one more member of his team, her room directly across from Lance and Hunk's, except her door was shut.   
  
Shiro cringed as he twisted the doorknob, the door creaking loudly in comparison to the silence of the rest of the house. He could hear Hunk shift around in his bed, and someone sighed, but nobody got up, so he continued moving, tiptoeing into Pidge's room.  
  
The nightlight plugged into one outlet glowed softly in the darkness, casting star patterns on the wall with its warm yellow light. Shiro couldn't help but smile at the sight of it, remembering when Hunk bought that for Pidge and stuck it in her wall, despite her protesting. The kids were all so thoughtful, truly caring for one another, even when it was unwelcome... at least the light from it allowed him to see pretty well so he didn't trip over the piles of laundry and gadgets that littered Pidge's floor.   
  
Picking his way around what looked like a disemboweled coffee machine, Shiro glanced towards the bed, and was not surprised to see Pidge sitting up against her pillows, her computer in her lap and head slumped forward with her chin on her chest. Her hands were still on the keyboard, though limp and motionless, her glasses sliding down her nose as she dozed in what had to be one of the most uncomfortable positions she could be in.  
  
Shiro shook his head as he approached the bed, first reaching out to slide the computer off of Pidge's lap. He shut the laptop, setting it on the bedside table, then carefully tugged her glasses off her face so he could fold them up and set them aside as well.   
  
"Alright, baby girl, time for bed," he whispered softly, bending down and cautiously moving to take her in his arms. One arm slid behind her knees, the other hooking around her upper back, and he gently lifted her so he could shift her down on the bed, laying her in a proper position to sleep in. She uttered a soft hum of complaint in her sleep, eyelids flickering, and he quickly lifted his hand to stroke her head, like he had done for Keith. "Shhh..."  
  
Her eyes opened partway for about half a second, still vacant with sleep, and then drifted closed again. Shiro waited a moment to make sure she wouldn't wake up, then took the blanket blob from the corner of the bed and smoothed it out, draping it over her.   
  
He lingered there for a moment, once she was settled, then turned to quietly leave, taking care to shut the door behind him, despite all the creaking. The kids were all safe and sound in their beds, peacefully sleeping away the wee hours of the morning.   
  
It was strange, now that he thought about it. His nightmares of the gladiator ring used to only be about himself, or about him and Keith... now, they were all there. He really had grown close to all of the kids in the several months they had been living together, hadn't he? They were more than just a team, running from the Galra and doing their best to be a five-man army for freedom. They were a family now, too. He couldn't imagine life without them, even with all of their bickering, the pranks and the heartache.   
  
Shiro sighed, smiling a bit to himself as he stood in the hallway, goosebumps appearing on his arms. It was chilly, in just the sweatpants and t-shirt he used as pajamas. Maybe he would try to go back to bed and get a little more sleep after all... it would at least be warm under his covers.  
  
He shuffled back across the hallway to his room, crawling into his bed and curling up under the blankets. Everyone was alright... he had kept his promises to keep them safe so far, and he would continue to. 


	3. Pidge

Pidge did not sleep a lot. Nowhere near enough, by any reasonable person's standards. She was the sort to frequently stay up until two or three in the morning and still be up in time for breakfast with the others, if she didn't just pull an all-nighter, holed up in her room with her laptop, eyes glued to the glowing screen and fingers typing away. So, when she did actually sleep, it was something of a miracle, and the others could all be grateful that it was incredibly difficult to wake her up once she was finally out.

Especially since they all loved to mess with her.

"Can I carry her?"

Shiro sighed as Lance asked that in far too excited of a voice, shaking his head as he stepped around the teenager to access the back door of his truck. "No, Lance, let me get her."

"Aww, but she's not that heavy! She has to weigh what, twelve pounds soaking wet?"

A faint snort of laughter escaped Shiro, who just ignored Lance's protests as he bent down to lean into the truck, reaching over to unbuckle Pidge's seat belt. He had taken the kids out to get some grocery shopping done, and by some wonderful magic, Pidge had fallen asleep on the way home, slumped down in the backseat between Lance and Keith. She only had a lap belt on, since she had been in the middle, which made it easier to get her seatbelt off of her and hook his arms around her, carefully dragging her closer to the door so he could get a proper grip on her and lift her out of the truck.

Pidge slumped limply in his arms, her head falling against his shoulder, glasses almost falling off her face. Her eyes looked almost bruised from how tired she was, skin pale except for where there were dark purplish-grey shadows.

Shiro sighed again, smiling fondly at the fifteen-year-old, and backed away from the truck so Lance could shut the door for him, albeit with a pout when he was refused the right to pick up the smallest member of their family. "Let's just get her in the house. Did you boys get all the groceries in?"

"Yes, DAD," Lance replied with a slight roll of his eyes, but then he grinned and scampered ahead to open the front door to the house for him. "Hunk and Keith are putting it all away now."

They made their way inside, the clattering of cabinets being opened and filled greeting their ears. Shiro carried Pidge to the living room, while Lance walked past him to the kitchen, leaving him to situate Pidge on the couch in relative peace. He gently laid her down, then tugged off her shoes and went to set them by the door, before grabbing a throw blanket and draping it over her.

"She still out?" Keith asked, peering out from the kitchen with a box of ramen noodles in his hands.

Shiro nodded, plucking Pidge's glasses off her face and setting them on the coffee table before straightening up. "Yeah, she's gone... we'll let her sleep for now. Hopefully she'll wake up for dinner."

He moved to join the boys in the kitchen, so he could help them put everything away while Hunk set some pans on the stove to get started on their dinner, now that they actually had food to cook. Their friends were due to come over, as they so often did now, and Hunk had refused to serve them reheated leftovers or frozen foods, so the shopping trip was sort of last-minute, but at least they would be stocked for a good week or two now, aside from the occasional milk run.

By the time the groceries were all put away and the plastic bags gathered up, their guests were arriving. The boys caught a glimpse of Coran's headlights outside a moment before the familiar silver SUV drove up and parked in front of the house, and then three individuals stepped out, none of them humans. Coran and Allura could drop their human guises when out in the desert, their ears going from rounded to pointed, tiny triangular markings glowing on their cheekbones. Shay, a Balmeran, was far more obviously an alien species, with her reptilian features and stubby tail, but she was as sweet and warmhearted as any human girl could be, if not even more so.

The front door swung open, with Coran calling out a cheerful greeting, "Hello, lion pride! We have arrived!"

Allura chuckled, following right behind him with Shay at her elbow, the girls apparently finishing up a conversation they had been having in the car. The three aliens all worked at the same hospital, after all, the very same one where they had met the human crew a few months prior.

Hunk hurriedly appeared in the kitchen doorway, lifting one finger to his lips as he shushed the three aliens, "Don't wake the baby!"

"Pardon?" Allura blinked in surprise, "There's a child here?"

Keith walked past Hunk to escape from the crowded kitchen, snorting, "He means Pidge, and don't worry about it. She wouldn't wake up if you dropped a stack of bricks on her head." He entered the living room and flopped onto the recliner, grabbing the TV remote so he could turn on the history channel and get some relaxing in before it was time to eat.

The trio of guests walked further into the house, glancing down at the couch to see the smallest lion was indeed sound asleep under a fuzzy throw blanket. Coran and Allura both simply smiled and walked into the kitchen, with Allura reaching out with one hand to affectionately stroke Pidge's head on her way past.

Shay, however, stopped to look down at Pidge like she was a particularly cute cat rolling over to show her belly. "Oh, she is so cute when she is resting! I see why Hunk would compare her to an infant, when her face is so sweet."

Keith cracked a smile, unable to argue that Pidge had a certain charm about her. Namely, looking like a little kid, at least when she was sleeping. "Yeah, I guess so. Just don't let her hear you say that when she's awake."

"You can also cuddle her when she's like this," Lance chimed in, sauntering into the living room. He sat down beside Pidge's limp form, reaching out to ruffle her fluffy hair before running his fingers through it, something she would normally hit him for when awake. "See?"

"Oh! Do you think she would mind if I sat with her?" Shay asked, a big, innocent smile on her face.

"Yes--"

"Nope!"

Keith and Lance's answers were in unison, but directly contradicted one another, making them give each other a slight glare.

"Don't pick on Pidge while she's sleeping, Lance."

"I'm not!"

Keith rolled his eyes, then looked up at Shay, suggesting, "You can hold her, but only if you do so to bring her up to her room so she can sleep in peace. I'll tell Shiro to let her sleep through dinner just this once."

Shay chuckled a bit, understanding to a degree, and reached down to carefully scoop the sleeping girl off the couch and carry her upstairs. She remembered the last time she had carried Pidge, back at the hospital, when they first met... she had been so tense and distrusting back then, but now she was peacefully sleeping in her arms. It was nice to finally be the little human's friend.

The Balmeran nurse settled Pidge in her bed, where she would be safe from being petted or cuddled while unconscious, then slipped away to join the others downstairs again, leaving her on her own. Her room was familiar, her safe haven, but... there was no warmth from the kitchen, or beloved voices surrounding her in there. It was quiet. Empty.

Homes weren't meant to be empty.

An image began to fill her head as she lay there, her mind dredging up memories as she slept. She saw the inside of a house... rich chocolate-colored hardwood floors, soft beige walls, green carpets protecting the floors from being scratched by the furniture. A large kitchen with a separate dining room for eating in, unlike the little safe house. A proper, family dinner table, a vase of flowers sitting in the center. Daisies. She had picked them from the yard herself, and had given them to her mother.

Her mother...?

"Katie!" Colleen's voice called frantically from the living room, and suddenly her mother appeared in front of her, eyes wide with panic.

"Mom?!" Pidge felt her heart start to hammer as her mother rushed over to her side, grabbing onto her arms and hurriedly pushing her towards the basement. "Mom, what's going on--?!"

"Hide!" Colleen pleaded, face pale and drawn with fear. "Quickly, to the basement, you have to hide!"

Bae Bae, the family dog, was kicking up a fuss outside, roaring and snarling like she had never heard him do before. His voice rose in a flurry of barks, then abruptly cut off with a yelp, lapsing into silence.

A cold feeling crept down Pidge's spine, and she quickly turned to do as her mother said, rushing towards the basement door. She didn't make it more than few steps, however, before the front door to the house burst open with enough force to rip it right off its hinges, sending it crashing the floor as a splintered, useless lump of wood and glass.

"No!" Colleen wailed, wrapping her arms around her daughter as though to shield her as several tall, purple-skinned creatures walked in. Galra.

"Colleen?!" Samuel's frantic voice drifted from the doorway, and more Galra appeared, holding him and Matt with their hands bound behind their backs. His face was a mask of fear, eyes wide behind his rectangular glasses. "Please, leave my family out of this!"

Pidge felt her mother's grip on her tighten, her face suddenly buried against the soft blue fabric of her dress, one of Colleen's hands on the back of her head to hold her there. They were both trembling as the heavy footsteps of the Galra in charge thumped across the floor, approaching them. Pidge could hear her mother speak in a trembling, but forceful tone, "L-leave my daughter alone... she's just a little girl, she has nothing to offer you..."

The Galra chuckled, a deep, malicious sound. "Of course a mere child has nothing to offer the Galra empire. However, your husband and son do. And the best way to prompt cooperation from creatures like you is with hostages."

"No!" Matt cried out, his voice cracking. "Mom! Pidge!"

She felt the blow before she could see it coming, a large hand sending her and her mother sprawling across the floor. They hit the hardwood with startled gasps of pain and fear, looking up to see the Galra general smirking down at them, a strange gun in one hand.

"Of course... I only really need one."

Pidge drew in a sharp breath, turning her head to look at her mother, who had tears in her eyes. There was a brief moment when their gazes met, identical amber eyes gazing into one another, and then Colleen lurched across the floor. "Katherine!"

Colleen threw her body over top of Pidge, her weight pushing her back against the floor. She felt her mother's arms go around her one last time, and then there was a soft sound-- not a loud one, like the old-fashioned guns that used bullets. It was a click, a whir, and a rush of air.

Her mother gasped, breath catching in her throat, and Pidge felt the tears start sliding down her face when the weight on top of her became limp and lifeless. "M-Mom...? Mom?!"

"COLLEEN!" Samuel shrieked, shock and despair in his voice. "Colleen, no! Please, no!"

The Galra general simply kicked Colleen's body off of Pidge, smirking down at the girl as she lay there, quivering. "It would appear that your mother volunteered you to be the hostage. How selfish of her." He reached down and caught her by her long hair, hauling her to her feet. He then shoved her at one of his companions, commanding, "Take that one to the base and decide where she would be most useful, but keep her alive."

"Sir," the Galra nodded, and then Pidge was being dragged away.

All she could do was stare in shock at the lifeless form of her mother on the floor, her father and brother's frantic screams falling on deaf ears as they were dragged from the house, taken to different vehicles. Separated. Everything after that was just a myriad of fractured memories she didn't want to remember... pain, fear, hunger, grief.

Being put to work helping to bring the designs her family made to life, her nimble hands piecing together machinery made to wage war on the universe.

Having her hair cut off because it kept getting caught in the big machines she had to crawl around in, tending to the delicate wiring that made them work.

And a barren room with a single huge window making up one wall, separating it into two halves. That stupid room... every time she entered it, she cried, because on the other side of that window wall stood her brother, or her father, and every time she would be able to see them, but not touch them. She couldn't run into their arms for comfort after seeing her mother die, they couldn't look at the injuries marring her underfed body, or run their fingers through her cropped hair.

Like always, she just dropped to her knees and pressed up against the glass, wailing like a lost child. She knew that though they were trying to shout comforting words through the barrier between them, their eyes were never on her for long... they would always look past her, above her head, to the Galra she knew stood behind her every time, gun in hand, aiming it at her head as she cried and screamed. She knew they did it on purpose, showing her Dad and Matt that they were the ones in control... that they could make her suffer indefinitely, or put her down at any moment, just like they had her mother. She could see the reflection of the gun in the glass when she opened her tear-filled eyes, and the smirk on the Galra's face.

Sometimes, she wished they would just hurry up and shoot her.

But, in the end, the nightmare ended as it always did; an epilogue, a promise for another episode tomorrow. A hand grabbed her by the back of the neck, and she was being hauled out of that window room. The last she ever saw of her brother was him standing on the other side of that glass, pounding it with both fists and shouting until his face turned red, tears gathering in his eyes.

And she just screamed along with him, unable to bear her existence as a tormented bargaining chip.

She just screamed...

... And screamed...

... And screamed...

Everyone downstairs stiffened with a jolt at the sound of a strangled cry from somewhere in the house, Hunk jumping so badly that he dropped the pot of mashed potatoes he had been carrying over to the table. It clattered noisily on the floor, spilling its contents at his feet before rolling under one of the chairs.

There was a moment of stunned silence all around, but then they moved, and with great purpose.

"Pidge!" Lance yelped, darting from the kitchen, but he wasn't quite as fast as Keith, who was already thundering up the stairs with his large dagger in hand, having yanked it from the sheath on his belt.

Keith led the charge down the hall and to Pidge's room, flinging open the door and leaping in, weapon at the ready. He whipped his head around, searching for the enemy that was surely trying to murder her, but... nobody was there. The room was empty, aside from the small figure laying on the bed, thrashing around in her blankets and wailing like she was being brutally attacked.

Stunned, he just stood there as the others rushed in behind him, most of them stumbling over the piles of junk all over Pidge's floor.

Shiro, however, leaped right over an overflowing basket of laundry like a freaking gazelle so he could reach the bed. He frantically tore the tangled blankets off of Pidge, then grabbed the flailing girl by the arms and gave her a rough shake; rough enough to make Allura and Shay begin to protest for fear that he would hurt her, but it did the trick.

After a few vigorous shakes, Pidge woke up, her eyes snapping open as one last scream tore out of her throat. She was aware of large, strong hands gripping her so tightly that it hurt, and frantic voices calling out to her, and for a moment, her drowsy mind though she was still back at that horrible place, and she struggled against the one holding her as she started to sob and curse. "Let me go! Stop! STOP!"

"Pidge!" Shiro gasped, giving her another little shake. "It's me! It's Shiro!"

Finally, she calmed, ceasing her struggling enough to blink tears away from her eyes and look forward. Sure enough, she saw Shiro's scarred, worried face right in front of her, and realized he was the one holding onto her arms. Behind him stood all the others, who were now silent... they all looked shocked, worried, or on the verge of crying. Allura had one hand over her mouth, Coran holding her shoulder as though to calm her, while Lance stood beside Keith, a crushed expression on his face. Hunk and Shay stood back, failing at keeping calm as they all just... stared at her.

It took another moment for Pidge to realize she was shaking uncontrollably, dried tears making her face feel sticky as fresh ones continued to stream from her eyes. She was crying in front of all of them. Damn it.

"Hey..." Shiro spoke again, softly this time, drawing Pidge's eyes to his again. He carefully released her arm with his flesh-and-blood hand so he could lightly touch the side of her face. She flinched, but didn't pull away, so he slid his hand around to the back of her head, his robotic arm slipping around her back, and pulled her close so he could hold her tightly against his chest. "You're okay... it's okay, Katie..."

It all came rushing out at once when he dared to use her true name. Pidge slumped against Shiro, clutching at his shirt with both hands as she broke into wordless sobs. She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face against him, curling up into as little of a ball as she could.

"Oh, little one..." Coran sighed, shoulders drooping. He looked around at the others, suggesting, "Perhaps we should give them some space--"

"No," Pidge interrupted him, her voice muffled against Shiro's shoulder. "Please... don't go..."

Everyone stood there for a long moment, then one by one began moving over to Shiro's side, pushing piles of electronics and clothing out of the way so they could cluster around and sit on the floor. Shiro simply pulled Pidge off the bed to set her on his lap, wrapping her in his arms as everyone else huddled around. "Alright, everyone is here. We're not going anywhere."

Allura reached out to gently stroke Pidge's hair, while Lance pressed up against Shiro and rested his hand on her cheek, his thumb occasionally wiping at her face to get rid of those blasted tears. He hummed a little as he did, while Keith, Shay, and Hunk just shuffled close enough to reach rest a hand on her back, or her leg, whatever part of her they could reach.

Coran sat down last, seeming a bit lost. He was quiet as they all took a few minutes to soothe Pidge, then asked, "So... your name isn't actually Pidge?"

Pidge uttered a coughing noise, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "No, it's not... it's... i-it's just a nickname..."

"I see. So, 'Katie' is your true name?"

"N-no, that..." She stopped to sniffle, wiping her nose on her shirt sleeve. "That's a nickname, too... my whole name is Katherine." She lifted her head off of Shiro's shoulder to give everyone a stern glare with her bloodshot eyes, threatening, "But anyone who calls me that is gonna get tazed. Just keep calling me Pidge..."

She then promptly laid her head back down to accept more gentle petting from Allura and Lance, content to be babied for once. It took a while, but the tension slowly began to ease out of her, until she went from being a tightly curled ball in Shiro's arm, to almost limp, feeling more tired than she had been when she first fell asleep. Wait, when had she fallen asleep, anyway...?

"Hey, Pidge?" Hunk finally spoke up after at least five or ten minutes of silence, giving her shirt a little tug. "How about we all go downstairs for some dinner, and then watch a movie on the couch? Sound good?"

Pidge nodded, her head rubbing up against Shiro's shoulder with the movement. "Yeah."

One by one, they all got to their feet to shuffle downstairs, gathering around the table for dinner, minus the floor-potatoes. Pidge only ate a few bites, but it was better than nothing, and then she went to the living room with the boys and Shay, the lot of them squeezing onto the couch like a bunch of sardines.

She got about five minutes into the movie before falling asleep again, this time safely in Lance's arms, since he insisted that THIS time he was going to get to hold her. The Cuban boy kept his arms wrapped firmly around his friend, gently combing the fingers of one hand through her hair, doing his best to comfort her and ward off nightmares as she drifted off into sleep.

She had already done the same for him before.


End file.
